Day 1 - Friday

Fly to Rochester, New York.  Take the complimentary shuttle to your hotel to rest and overnight prior to beginning your exciting and informative Church History and Book of Mormon tour.    

Day 2 – Saturday SACRED GROVE – SMITH FARM – GRANDIN PRESS – HILL CUMORAH – PALMYRA TEMPLE - WHITMER FARM

You will motorcoach to the Sacred Grove where Joseph Smith experienced the First Vision, as the Father and the Son appeared to him in answer to his earnest prayer, opening the door for the Restoration of the Gospel and the Final Dispensation.  You will visit the Smith Farm and see the Palmyra Temple, as well as tour the Grandin Printing Press, where the first copies of the Book of Mormon were printed. The Visitor’s Center, at the site of the Hill Cumorah will be a highlight of the tour as your guide unfolds the exciting story of the Nephites and Lamanites while recounting the battles that took place in this sacred place, where Moroni eventually placed the plates. We'll travel to the Peter Whitmer’s farm, where the Church was organized on April 6, 1830. Then we will complete the day by driving to Bufflalo for dinner and to stay the night.  (B) (L) (D)

Day 3 – Sunday NIAGARA FALLS – ISAAC MORLEY FARM – NEWEL WHITNEY STORE – KIRTLAND TEMPLE

You’ll leave early this morning to view the incredible Wonder of the World, Niagara Falls, at the place the Mohawk Indians call ‘the narrow neck of land’.  You will experience the thundering power of the Niagara River as it empties from Lake Erie over the precipice toward Lake Ontario.  After taking many photos, you will continue toward Kirtland. You will stop at the Isaac Morley farm on the way to the historic Kirtland Temple, owned by the Community of Christ. Next we will visit the Church’s Visitor Center where guides will take you to the Sawmill, the Johnson Historic Hotel, and the Newel K. Whitney store, where you will have the opportunity to sit in the actual room where the School of the Prophets took place. Overnight near Kirtland. (B) 

Day 4 – Monday   JOHN JOHNSON FARM – JOHNSON-HUMRICKHOUSE MUSEUM – HOPEWELL MOUNDS

After breakfast you’ll board our luxurious motorcoach and wind your way south to the John Johnson Farm, where Joseph Smith was dragged from his bed and savagely tarred and feathered.  Our next stop will be the Johnson-Humrickhouse Museum in Coshocton, Ohio, where you will begin the ‘Book of Mormon evidence’ portion of your tour.  This museum houses the famous “Holy Stones”, found in a Hopewell mound near Newark, Ohio.  These stones, inscribed with ancient Hebrew writings, demonstrate a North American connection to the Old World.  As we continue toward Newark, you’ll discover that this area is filled with the most extensive and monumental earthworks in the world, including the Great Circle and Great Octagon, built by the Hopewell Civilization.  They date between 150 BC and 500 AD, during the peaceful time following Christ’s visit.  Scientists have recently discovered embedded astronomical alignments proving this was a highly advanced civilization.  You’ll have a chance to ascend the 30 foot embankments and walk the ‘place of entrance’ of the Great Circle.  You’ll learn more as we discuss the ancient Hopewell Mound Builder civilization that inhabited this area during Book of Mormon times. We’ll spend the night near Newark, Ohio.  (B)

Day 5 – Tuesday  HOPEWELL MUSEUM – MOUND CITY – SEIP MOUND – FORT HILL

After breakfast, our first stop will be the Hopewell Museum at Mound City in Chillicothe, Ohio.  This restored Hopewell site features displays of artifacts of copper, silver, and stone that may have been made by Book of Mormon people.  We willl continue through the Ohio River Valley, visiting ancient archaeological sites including Seip Mound, and Fort Hill, a Hopewell hilltop fortress with its ancient stones walls still visible.  We will provide a picnic lunch at the beautiful setting at the foot of Fort Hill. You’ll see the world famous Serpent Mound with its mysterious coils forming astronomical alignments.  We will overnight in Wilimington, Ohio.  (B) (L)

Day 6 – Wednesday   FORT ANCIENT – MIAMISBURG ADENA CULTURE MOUND

Breakfast, then on to Fort Ancient, another hilltop fortress with miles of embankments and trenches before exploring the Miamisburg Adena Culture Mound.  Then we’ll have some quality discussion time about this ancient civilization that has over 25 correlations to the Book of Mormon, as we continue on toward Decatur where we will spend the night. (B)

Day 7 – Thursday  ZELPH’S MOUND - CARTHAGE JAIL – NAUVOO 

After breakfast you’ll continue your journey, “roving over the plains of the Nephites” as the Prophet Joseph wrote to his sweetheart Emma while on Zion’s Camp march in 1835.  Our first stop, Zelph’s Mound, is perched high upon a bluff above the Illinois River.  A short climb takes you to the site where Joseph Smith had a vision of a righteous Lamanite warrior named Zelph, who was buried in this mound after dying in the final struggle between the Nephites and Lamanites.  We will provide lunch on the way to Carthage Jail, where the life of Joseph and his faithful brother Hyrum were taken by assassins, and also visit the Carthage Museum. We will continue on our way to Joseph’s City, Nauvoo. There you will have the opportunity to attend a special temple session for our group. There will still be time to watch one of the live performances available. Overnight near Nauvoo.(B) (L)

Day 8 – Friday  NAUVOO – ZARAHEMLA – FAR WEST – ADAM-ONDI-AHMAN – HAUN’S MILL

This will be a full day which begining with a horse drawn wagon tour through the streets of Nauvoo. We will appreciate the majestic Temple, high on a bluff, symbolically facing the west.  You will go back in time to visit ‘Old Nauvoo’ and see the Browning gun shop, the Nauvoo Mansion and other beautiful homes, and walk the Trail of Hope that the Saints walked as they bid farewell to Nauvoo.  Boarding our motorcoach, we'll look across the Mississippi River to Montrose, near the place the Prophet Joseph said was the site of Zarahemla, as indicated by the Lord in D&C 125:3.  You’ll then travel on to Far West to view the temple cornerstone and learn the significance and parallelisms in the Lord’s Promised Land.  Explore the ancient past and the foretold future, where they come together in the lush valley of Adam-Ondi-Ahman.  It was here, on this sacred land, the Prophet Joseph found the remains of an old “Nephite altar”, near Tower Hill.  You’ll pass by the tragic site of Haun’s Mill, where a terrible massacre took place October 30^th, 1838. That evening we will provide an Amish meal in Jamesport. Our day ends at a comfortable hotel in Cameron near Liberty. (B) (L) (D)

Day 9 – Saturday – INDEPENDENCE – TEMPLE LOT – LIBERTY JAIL

Traveling south, our route takes us toward Independence, Missouri, the place prophesied as the location of the New Jerusalem in the final days of this earth.  You will stand on the ground where these events will occur.  Within one city block are the edifices of the Community of Christ with their amazing temple and conference center, the LDS Church Visitor’s Center, and the empty lot, where one day a magnificent Temple will be built by the remnant of the House of Israel.   At Liberty Jail you will share in the despair and the exhilaration of the Prophet Joseph as he received some of our most hallowed revelations while he was incarcerated.  You will end this tour with new insights about the possible location of the Book of Mormon, more knowledge about the History of the Church, and a love and appreciation for this great land, the Promised Land of liberty and freedom. Fly home after 4pm. (B)

Legacy Tours and Travel, LLC reserves the right to alter the itinerary and/or substitue sightseeing and/or other tour features if deemed necessary.

RESERVATION FORM